Saturday, June 09, 2012

Philippines studying military accord with Singapore

The
Philippines is studying a military training agreement with Singapore
and is closely watching the progress of a similar accord with Australia
for lessons, the defence department said.

The proposed Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) would allow Philippine
and Singaporean troops to train in each other's countries, reviving
joint exercises that were suspended in 1996, department spokesman, Peter
Galvez, said on Saturday.

The department is looking at the experiences with both the
Philippines' existing VFA with the United States and a VFA bill with
Australia being debated in the Senate, Galvez said.

"They are collating all the experiences with the various agreements
so we can craft a well-rounded VFA (with Singapore) that everyone can
agree to," he told AFP.

Singapore had a military training agreement with the Philippines in
1994 but joint exercises were suspended in 1996 because under Philippine
law the entry of foreign troops for wargames must be covered by a VFA
approved by the Senate.

Singapore submitted a draft proposal to the Philippines in 2007 but
progress in crafting the final bill was slow due because the Manila
office concerned lacked manpower, said Galvez.The United States, the country's main defence ally, sealed such a VFA in 1999 and a similar accord with Australia is pending.

Nationalists and leftists have opposed such agreements as a violation of the country's sovereignty.

The Philippines' defence ties have received greater attention in
recent weeks after a maritime standoff with China broke out two months
ago over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

Galvez said "we are more positive with the Australian VFA. If it rolls out, that will be template for the other countries".

However he said it would be a long time before the agreement with Singapore is presented to the senators.